R. Kelly Previews New Album ‘Write Me Back’

For 2010’s The Love Letter, R. Kelly threw his head back and struck a smile resembling that of Ray Charles. And as seconds-long snippets now prove, Kells is picking up where he left off in Write Me Back, out June 26 through RCA Records. What does that mean, exactly?

For starters, and based on the sounds released so far — about 30 seconds each from the standard release’s 12 tracks — the best of Write Me Back has R. Kelly sounding like a man out of his time, though perhaps in the best way possible. “All Rounds on Me” is essentially Kelly performing at a sock hop, if not imagining his likeness standing on stage, swiveling his hips and causing an frenzy as Elvis Presley did on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Immediately following the swinging track however is “Believe in Me,” what sounds like the rougher precursor to Usher‘s “There Goes My Baby” and will apparently feature trap-tested, Obama-approved Young Jeezy. Still, plenty of moments in Write Me Back do seem to evoke some of the best moments in R&B history: Motown when it was taking off in Detroit, the Bee Gees before Saturday Night Fever and, obviously, R. Kelly at his best: